Methodology

SEE TOP 100 ranks the biggest companies in Southeast Europe by total revenue for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2016. Both 2016 figures and 2015 comparative counterparts are sourced from 2016 annual non-consolidated reports.

The SEE TOP 100 ranking covers non-financial companies registered in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia and Slovenia. Banks, investment intermediaries, insurers and real estate investment trusts (REITs) are excluded from the ranking as total revenue is not an accurate indicator of their performance. We have compiled separate rankings of the largest 100 banks and insurers. Holding companies, on the other hand, are represented in the ranking by their subsidiaries.

All data is sourced from national commercial registers, stock exchanges, government and corporate websites, industry regulators, local business information providers and companies themselves.

The initial pool of companies exceeds 2,700. The ranking does not include companies that declined or failed to provide financial results by the time SEE TOP 100’s content was finalised.

To allow comparison, all local currencies in the rankings have been converted into euro, using the respective central bank’s official exchange rate on the last working day of 2016 and 2015. Year-on-year changes in the companies’ financial indicators have been calculated using the figures in the original currency.

Elsewhere, local currency figures referencing past periods have been converted into euro using the respective central bank exchange rate as of the end of the relevant period while all other local currency figures have been converted using the exchange rate as of the date the relevant editorial content was finalised.

SEE TOP 100 banks is a ranking of the largest banks in Southeast Europe in terms of total assets from non-consolidated balance sheets as of December 31, 2016.

To allow comparison, all local currencies have been converted into euro, using the central banks’ official exchange rates on the last working day of 2016 and 2015, respectively. Local currency figures have been used when calculating year-on-year changes.

All data is sourced from central banks, national commercial registers, financial supervision commissions, bank associations, government and corporate websites, and companies themselves.

The initial pool of companies exceeds 260 banks registered in the region including branches and representative offices of foreign banks.

SEE TOP 100 insurers is a ranking of the largest insurers (excluding re-insurers) in Southeast Europe in terms of gross written premium from non-consolidated income statements for 2016.

To allow comparison, all local currencies have been converted into euro, using the central banks’ official exchange rates on the last working day of 2016 and 2015, respectively. Local currency figures have been used when calculating year-on-year changes.

All data is sourced from central banks, national commercial registers, financial supervision commissions, insurance associations, government and corporate websites, and companies themselves.

Our pool of listed companies, monitored in 2016 includes more than 1 200 public companies, located in South East Europe with their regular shares. We excluded from the ranking both companies, listed on the Bucharest Stock Exchange, but not headquartered in SEE countries – Erste Group Bank AG (stock symbol EBS) and New Europe Property Investments Plc.(stock symbol NEP).

To allow comparison, all local currencies in the ranking have been converted into euro, using the respective central bank’s official exchange rate on the last working day of 2016 and 2015.

Most dynamic companies is a ranking of the top 10 companies with the highest change in revenue in SEE TOP 100. Change in revenue is calculated as a year-on-year change of total revenue, calculated in local currencies.

SEE TOP 100 per capita is a ranking based on the same pool of 2,700 companies as in SEE TOP 100. The ranking is compiled by dividing the total revenue in euro of each company by the population estimate in the country of registration. This benchmark indicates the importance of individual companies for the local economies.

Most profitable companies is a ranking of the top 10 companies with the highest return on revenue in SEE TOP 100. Return on revenue is calculated as net profit divided by total revenue, both in euro terms. To allow comparison, all local currencies have been converted into euro, using the central banks’ official exchange rates on the last working day of 2016 and 2015, respectively.

Money losers is a ranking of 10 companies with the most significant losses in SEE TOP 100. To allow comparison, all local currencies have been converted into euro, using the central banks’ official exchange rates on the last working day of 2016 and 2015, respectively.

The SEE industrial ranking pools together the revenue generated by all companies in SEE TOP 100 and ranks sectors by cumulative revenue. Year-on-year changes in the sectors’ total revenue have been calculated using the figures in euro. The comparative figures for 2015 are revised to allow a fair comparison.

The sub-ranking of the industries with the highest return on revenue was calculated by dividing the cumulative net profit/loss within each industry by the cumulative revenue.

We have based our rankings on an industry classification which treats filling station operators and gas trading/distribution companies as Petroleum/Natural Gas companies, pharmacies and pharmaceutical distributors as Wholesale/Retail, and automotive and car parts manufacturers as Automobiles.

SeeNews is an independent worldwide provider of business news and market intelligence with focus on the emerging markets. SeeNews is preparing an annual ranking of the best performing companies in the region of Southeast Europe, called SeeNews TOP 100 SEE.